THE UNEXPECTED
MY TRUE STORY (submitted by a reader)
INTERVIEW WITH A PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR
A MOONLESS NIGHT AT DEAD MAN'S CURVE
FEATURED TOPIC: CAN SPIRITS SEE US?
FEATURED PARANORMAL LINKS
- Judy McCollough, TRIPP founder &
investigator
When I was a young
child and my friends and I would be having sleepovers, it seems we
would always come around to telling ghost stories. We would tell
the stories and elaborating them to make them bigger than life, and
then we would get scared and run and hide under the covers. My
friends would be covered completely, but I would have to poke my
head out to see if something really was going to get us. At camping
outings, it is not a campout without a good ghost story or two, and
after hearing them, some would take off running to get in the tents,
but I would always have to turn and go back a little bit just to see
what if anything would be out there. As young children, most of us
were taught that ghosts do not exist, so after the excitement died
down of what we thought to be a good imaginary game, we could sleep
at night.
My curiosity for
ghostly creatures has been with me from an early age. I would be
scared like the others, but the thought of me seeing something not
normally seen by most would cause my fears to dissipate. I would be
overcome by an incredible desire to experience the unknown, and to
stay and see something unimaginable so I could share the event with
those too chicken to stick around. Now that I am older and have
experienced life and have read and experienced many things I can not
explain, my desire has become even stronger. At first I noticed
myself wandering off to cemeteries at night time. Many friends
thought I was loopy and asked if I got scared, but I found that most
of these places actually gave me a peaceful feeling. After our city
had to start closing cemeteries at night due to vandalism, I began
to think that I needed to find other places I could check out for
spirits. Then one day, the idea of a ghost hunting group sprouted,
and before long, I was smack in the middle of a bona fide paranormal
research team as a member. I felt like I had died and gone to
heaven, no pun intended. So my adventures began and I hope to have
many more in the years to come. We were told at a young age ghosts
/ spirits do not exist, but in our adventures, we have found that
you may not always be able to believe everything you were taught.
In paranormal
research, you expect to come upon the unexpected from time to time.
Even though you believe you are prepared for most anything, when
encountering something unexpected, your survival instinct and your
fear gut instinct can kick in and it is hard to control sometimes.
If you ever hear a ghost hunter tell you they have never been
scared, then you are probably not getting the truth. I have
discovered for myself, that when there does seem to be a spirit
entity nearby, I begin to feel weak and ill and for a few minutes
and I feel like I have to leave the area. So, not all of
investigating has been pleasant for me.
I will not divulge
which of our team members experienced what, but I will tell you what
some of us have experienced.
We were in a local
community theater investigating one evening. Several team members
were sitting together on the stage when they heard music. It was an
eerie feeling being that there was no music, radio, TV or anything
going that night. Team members mentioned that they felt as though
someone was watching them and of seeing what looked like someone in
a Fedora and long coat. Voices could be heard by some and there was
one member that felt as though someone was at the stairway and that
the entity had been hurt there, but had not died there. This was a
something that I had to check for myself. So when others were
checking out more of the theater, I went over to the area of the
stairs and closed the doors to the landing and I sat down on the
stairs with only a voice recorder. I sat there for a few minutes and
I began to ask questions. Whether anything was answering, we do not
know that until we play back the recorders. I had asked several
times if anyone was there where I was, and if so to let me know. In
about 30 seconds, the door behind where I was sitting, opened up and
closed right away. My heart came up in my throat and I felt like it
was going to come out of my chest. I was spooked, but also terribly
excited because I had actually not expected for anything to happen.
I got up quickly and went to the door and opened it, and no one at
all was there. Not wanting to leave, I knew I had to find out if it
was any other member of the team. So I wandered off and found them
in another part of the building. I knew someone or something had let
me know there was someone with us there. I did not pick up anything
on the recorder, but knew I had made contact with something.
Several weeks later we went back, and that is when myself and
another team member were able to get some readings on our equipment
and measure what appeared to be an energy source about three by
three foot wide, and we took some pictures, and was able to capture
a vortex on camera. We feel it could be one of the spirits trying to
manifest and we caught it on film. Needless to say our awareness
level and excitement levels go sky high when you think you are
encountering something. I was standing where the vortex was, and I
was feeling weak and a sense of void at the same time. An unusual
feeling, but I was able to step back and turn the equipment off so
the other member could get pictures. It was an awesome feeling to
see that we had actually captured something on film.
Another place of
investigation was an old wholesale grocery warehouse built back in
1892 that once was a trading post for Indians with a bone yard that
once was out in the back of it. Being in the basement level of this
old historical building one evening, a team member noticed a paper
snowflake that seemed to have an energy of its own and was reacting
to communication. As several members were talking to this snowflake,
it seemed to respond by moving one way or another. There was no
draft or breeze to cause it, and we even went back several times
just to make sure and see if it would still do the same thing. It
did on several occasions, and then must have gotten bored with us.
While in this
basement on several occasions over a few months, we began to notice
that team members were being touched while down there. Several of
the female members where touched on a leg or arm, and one of the
male members was touched on the arm. It was the first experience for
the male member, and he said he could not explain the emotion he was
feeling by being touched by something you can not see. He said at
first the fear of not being able to see what or where it is comes to
mind, and then knowing that something not of this world just touched
you to make contact makes you feel nervous anxiety and a feeling of
excitement as well. He said it took him a few days to come to grips
with the fact he had been touched. One of the females who is
sensitive said she actually felt something touching her leg, and on
the voice recorder that was near by, you can hear a male voice say
“oh yea” at the time her leg was touched. So it appears that we
encountered an amorous spirit, and this same member woke up the next
morning only to find that she had a hickey on her neck and
absolutely no way to explain how it got there. We wondered if
perhaps the spirit had followed her home. She did say that for days
following this, that her household seemed to turn upside down and
something seemed to be reeking havoc with her home and life. It took
several weeks before she was feeling better again. Also while in
that basement, we heard what we thought was a mans voice talking,
and needless to say we did not lose anytime moving from the basement
to upstairs. We sent an all female team out one evening to this same
place to make sure that the voices were not being made by male
members. The night it was all female, we picked up four recordings
on our voice recorders of male voices talking to us. They were
actually responding to conversations we were having that night. At
this same place, one of the team members felt like something had
scratched her back.
We did an
experiment with a candle at this building. We prepared the area to
make sure there was no draft. We lit a candle and stood back about
15 feet and zoomed in with a video camera. We asked if there were
spirits among us, if they would let us know by making the candle
flame move. For a while there was nothing at all. We kept asking and
finally we began to see a little movement. As we were watching, we
kept encouraging the spirit by praising it and the effort it was
giving, and before long the spirit had the candle flame dancing all
over the place. Finally the spirit got tired and even though we kept
encouraging it, the candle flame went back to burning straight and
continued to do so till we went and blew the flame out.
One of our
scariest moments was when we were in the back area of this building.
It was a stormy night and we had been all over the building. We went
to this back room and the sensitives said they were feeling like
someone had been terribly mistreated and had been taken out the back
door to what appeared to be some water catching container from days
of old, and her head was held under water till she almost drowned,
and then it would be repeated again. So we decided to check and see
what was in the back and see if we could pick up anything out there.
The back door had a 2 X 6 wedged across it to keep it closed. It
was not the first time we had opened this door. We had on several
occasions and found it to be hard to open. One of the members went
over and removed the board from the door and set it aside. Just when
they were going over to the door to try and get it open, the door
forcibly flew open all the way and slammed against the wall. I know
at that moment, if there had been someone video taping, that would
have been one for the books. Those of us standing there froze in our
spots and hair just stood up on our arms and necks. After taking a
moment to gather ourselves, we decided that maybe it was the wind
that caused it, although it had been hard to open before, but we
were talking about going out to see if we could find a culprit that
mistreated people a long time ago. So if it was the wind, it gave us
probably our most scary moment because it was soo unexpected and
caught us by surprise. Later on in the same area, several team
members were made to feel ill by some really foul smell that was
horrid, but it was not smelled by others in the same room at the
time. So, was it really the wind??
Another unexpected
and unusual thing happened to one of our members at an old Indian
school. Several members were in a dormitory that we were told that
abuse had taken place of some of the girls that had lived in it back
many years ago. The members were doing audio recordings and taking
pictures and the sensitives were scanning the area to see what they
could pick up. Suddenly one of the members had encountered something
that changed her views on how she looked at things. She is one of
our team skeptics. As she was checking out one of the rooms, she
suddenly felt odd and the next thing she knew, she had backed into a
corner and was overcome with a feeling of despair and grief. It was
so strong that it brought her to tears and she said she was frozen
in that spot and could not move. She had no control and felt
helpless over what was happening to her as she sat in the corner.
She said that something was making her feel like there was no hope
and death would feel better than going on in this life. The member
was frozen there for a short time, and finally other members took
her downstairs and put her in the safe place. The member stayed
there most of the rest of the time during the investigation. She had
told others what had happened, and it took her weeks before she
began to be able to get back to what she said felt like any kind of
normalcy. Was it one of the young girl entities that had been abused
long ago and saw her chance to put those feelings on someone else?
Several other members actually were slapped while investigating the
same area about a month later. There were unexplained pictures of
faces in windows and what appears to be doors or doorways out in the
middle of a vacant field that has nothing else on it. There were
buildings on the property where sensitives said they could not make
themselves go up to because of the feeling of despair.
I actually got an
impression of a gentleman that had been tied to a tree and was about
to be executed with a rifle and he was calling out for his wife.
There was a teddy bear head laying on top of the ground at what
appears could be a grave, and no one at this place can explain it or
knows how it could have possibly gotten there. None of this is earth
shattering news or anything that would make the paranormal
investigating world stand up and take notice, but it goes to show
that there are soo many unexplained things that go on around us that
we would probably never be aware of if we were not intentionally out
seeking it. Several team members have gotten what appears to be
apparitions on film, but we can only speculate that what we see is
actually that. One of our better pictures was what you would call
our big fish that got away when we enhanced it before saving the
original. There are many more things too numerous to mention, but
check back here soon. We are about to do an investigation of a
cafeteria where witness’s have claimed that they have seen pots and
pans flying off shelves and across the room. Now that will be one
for the books if we get footage of that.
Spirits around us?
Always. Why some are seemingly inside abandoned vacant buildings, we
have not been able to determine that at this one old historical
building. They join in on conversations or try to give us warnings,
but as to why they are there, we have not been given that
information yet. We hope to get it one day. As for me, I am still
waiting for that investigation that will scare me, excite me and
share with me just what it is like being from the other side.
- Gina Abele, Beyond The Veils subscriber
On Jan. 25th I took a trip to NY with
a friend of mine for a 5 day vacation. We spent a night in NYC
then went upstate to an area right near Woodstock (actually got to
go to Woodstock...that's another story). Anyway we stayed
with a friend who had a great little house out in the middle of no
where. All wooded. She said that near her 7 acres of property was
a very old gravestone in major disrepair. She and some neighbors
were talking about restoring the property and making it
presentable. It turned out there were slaves buried there. Anyway,
my friends house had two bedrooms up stairs and one down. We took
the upstairs room. In the middle of the night, my girlfriend wakes
up to go to the bathroom. She flicks on the lights and starts down
the stairs waking me up. As I opened my eyes I was facing and
looked at the bedroom window. There was something very strange
inside the room and in front of that window. The only words I can
think of to describe it is red mist. It looked like a red mist,
about 2'x3' rectangular in shape and it was move from the bottom
of the window up. As soon as I moved to get a better look it was
gone.
The next day I asked my friend (who's
house it is) if she had ghosts. She said not that she knew of, but
if she did, she was sure they were friendly. I didn't say anything
else but the next day she pursued the question and asked me what I
saw. When I told her, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. I
asked if she'd seen it too and she said yes, but not in this
house. She'd seen it in another house years ago and had only seen
it the one time.
I go to a channeled class once a week
so when I got back I asked about the 'ghost'. They said it
was someone who had been related to my friend and who had crossed
over. I asked why did it appear as a mist? She said some ghosts
take on a signature - like some will knock on walls, some will
make noise, some will appear full bodied and some take on colors,
like this one. I asked why did it appear to me after all of these
years of not showing itself to her. The teacher said it was
because it was trying to get her attention and had been
unsuccessful. It recognized on some level that I'd see it, so it
showed itself to me.
-
Bethany Figueroa, TRIPP webmistress
Interview with a
Paranormal Investigator is a feature that I hope to be able to
add to each newsletter. It lets you take a quick peek
into the life of a paranormal investigator. It lets
you see how they got started in investigating, what makes them a
believer and how they feel during an investigation. It
also includes little questions to help us get to know the personal
side.
This e-interview was
with Christy Selfridge who is the founder of
OKPRI -
Oklahoma Paranormal Research & Investigations.
www.okpri.com
1. How long have you been
interested in the paranormal?
I’ve been interested in the paranormal since I was a child. While
growing up I would see and hear things that I didn’t understand and
when I questioned my mother and pastor, I was told that ghosts were
not real and that it was just the devil playing tricks on my mind. I
was also told that ghosts were nothing more than demons sent by
Satan to deceive us. I tried to abide by my religious teachings
however the older I got, the more curious I became about ghosts and
the paranormal.
2. What made you decide to
become a paranormal investigator?
My choice to become an investigator was due to my extended interest
in the field. In the beginning I really didn’t know how to
"investigate" the paranormal however I had a good friend of mine who
had done some researching and studying on it and he felt that he had
the basic knowledge to get started and he wanted me to investigate
with him. At first I was terrified, especially when he told me that
he wanted to conduct our first investigation in a cemetery. I kept
imagining Hollywood’s version of a ghostly hand reaching up from
beyond the grave and grabbing my ankles to pull me under. After a
lot of convincing however, I agreed to go with him and found out
that it was quite the opposite and I became hooked to investigating
the paranormal after we both recorded our first evps and captured
several interesting photos from the cemetery that night. We
investigated together as a small group for a couple of years until
2000 when I decided to start my own group called, OKPRI (Oklahoma
Paranormal Research & Investigations.)
3. Is it what you expected
it would be? If not, how is it different?
Investigating in the paranormal field is a whole lot different from
what I expected because there were so many things that I didn’t know
in the beginning and I wasn’t aware of how many different "spirits"
there were out there and I didn’t know how much there was to learn.
I also didn’t realize the massive amounts of people who were
experiencing paranormal activity, especially in Oklahoma since this
is the "Bible Belt" and how many people were seeking knowledge about
ghosts and hauntings." I also did not realize that Oklahoma had so
much unique history with many of its own ghost stories. I was also
unaware of how competitive the paranormal field seemed to be and I
found it sad that there were many groups out there that choose to
work against each other instead of with each other since researching
the paranormal is the main common goal among many.
4. What do you consider
the best part of being an investigator?
There are many different parts I love about being a researcher and
investigator but I think my favorite part is obtaining positive data
especially through the evps. I think it is really neat how you can
hear the different spirit personalities and messages given through
evp and I believe that a lot of times these evp’s can help give
needed information about the specifics of the case. I also like
finding out the background on the ghosts told from their viewpoint
when I am given their message psychically. Not all spirits out there
are bad and there are many of them that are just lost and need some
help!
5. Have your thoughts on
the paranormal changed any since before you started investigating?
Yes, my thoughts on the paranormal have remarkably changed from the
time that I first started. There were so many things that I was
unaware of and it seemed like just when I had one of my questions
answered, that answered opened up another dozen questions. I was
also unaware of just how deep subjects in the paranormal can get.
6. What is your favorite
piece of equipment?
My favorite piece of equipment is probably my audio recorder since
my favorite part of the paranormal research is in the area of evps.
7. What do you consider
your best piece of paranormal evidence?
My
best piece of paranormal evidence is an evp that I recorded at a
residential investigation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prior to this event,
the homeowner sent me a photograph and in it I saw very young dark
headed girl. I told the team it would be a great investigation and
that there was a little girl there. While setting up the equipment,
the homeowners were talking about being hungry and one of them said
that after the investigation one of their friend's was bringing over
pizza. The response by one of the laidies was, "Oh, then I'll
wait." It was after that that my audio recorder captured the voice
of a little girl saying, "Ah, I want my din-din." This wasn't heard
by any of us there, only on my audio recorder. There were also no
children in the home. This evp also turned out to be a Class "A"
evp and one of the best ones out there that I have ever heard.
8. Have you actually seen
a ghost or apparition?
Yes, I have seen an actual ghost, but only once or twice with my
physcial eyes. I am a psychic so I have seen many of them in
different stages and have seen them through my spiritual eyes.
9. What is your favorite
type of site to investigate (home, historic, etc)?
My favorite to investigate are the locations that have never been
investigated before. It doesn't matter if it is a home, business
or historical location however I do love the historical places
because they are full of history are are very neat locations. We
can also validate a lot more in research when we have historical
records to go off of and compare with our findings to see if any
of our evidence matches the historical records.
10. What is the funniest
thing that has happened on an investigation?
I'm not really fond of manniquins and so one of my funniest moments
and yes, it is recorded on video, was when I we were investigating a
military museum. We were in the dark and a camera flashed and I saw
myself standing next to this manniquin dressed as a pilot and
wearing a huge air mask. This caught me off guard and spooked me so
I quickly turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Check
out our website on our Blooper Reel Page for this video. It's
called, "Don't Fear the Manniquin!"
11. What is the best
paranormal experience you've had while investigating?
The best paranormal experience I have had was when we were
investigating this residential location and I psychically connected
with a spirit named Mark
who began to tell me his story. As he began telling me his story, I
began to see the room change in appearance. I also noticed
the windows were open and the curtains were blowing inward with the
breeze. I got the date as being August of 1977. Mark told me that
he was twenty-seven years old when his life was taken. He then
showed me himself standing up beside his bed stretching. I heard
him say “I’m tired” and watched as he proceeded to lie down on the
bed. It was at that moment I saw a knife plummet into the upper
right side of his back. I then saw Mark lying on the bed in a puddle
of blood with his right arm hanging off of the bed. It was at this
point into the investigation that our EMF meters were being set off
to verify some of the questions we were asking.
I
then noticed a blonde headed toddler in a diaper, running past the
outside open door of the same room. At first I didn’t know who this
toddler was or why I was seeing him, however it was Mark’s way of
introducing me to his son brought about from his past memories. I
then saw Mark standing in spirit outside of his body next to the bed
and then I saw his son with his beautiful blue eyes enter the room
and approach the bed where his father’s body lay. The young boy then
began shaking his father’s arm as if to wake him and I could faintly
hear him calling out to his father. It was then that I saw Mark in
spirit, reaching out his arms to hold his son. Mark kept trying
over and over again to let his son know that he was there and I
heard him become persistent in saying “Not dead, not dead, I’m alive
and here son, I’m right here!” It was then that I felt all of Mark’s
emotion’s that had taken place that day upon his death and all the
sudden I started crying uncontrollably. It was very hard for me to
take in all the emotions that Mark was sending me. Due to my upset
emotional state, the other investigators present decided that we had
better end the investigation and so they took me out of the house so
I could regain control of my emotions. I went back out later for a
second investigation to visit with Mark and did some research to try
to help him. This investigation is also listed on our website as:
Nicoma Park Residential Investigation for those who might be
interested in reading about it.
12. What is the worst?
My worst experience was when we drove to a residential investigation
in Texas expecting to have an intense case since that was the way
the homeowner described it to us but it was quite the opposite. She
ended up having many deep psychological and mental problems which
caused her see and hear the things she was experiencing. This
however taught me a lesson and allowed me to develop a stricter
application process for clients.
13. Do you have a favorite
paranormal movie?
I
have many favorite paranormal movies. They are:
1. Stir of Echoes
2. Ghostship
3. The Eye
4. The Fog
5. Gothika
You can find out more about Christy and
her team at their website -
www.OKPRI.com. It is a great site that includes pictures,
video, evps and more! Also check out their
My Space page.
A MOONLESS NIGHT AT DEAD MAN'S CURVE
MANY YEARS AGO, You can always tell a true story from a fairy tale
because a true story begins "long, long ago". A fairy tale begins
"Once upon a time"
.
Long long ago while driving on the old highway on the South side
of the Colombia
River in
Oregon, I was nearing a hairpin curve called "Dead Man's Curve". As
I slowed a bit for the curve I saw a young lady standing at the edge
of the road. She was wearing brown and white saddle oxfords and
bobbie sox. She wore a knee length poodle skirt and a blue sweater.
Her blond hair blew gently on a light Fall breeze. I stopped and
asked her if she needed help. She said "No. I'm just a bit lonesome"
I turned the radio up, Elvis was singing "Love me tender" I think. I
got out of the car and talked with her for a while as the radio
continued to play great Rock and Roll music. The girl and I danced
for a long time there in the dust beside the road. When car lights
approached from up the hill I glanced that way and when I looked
back the girl was gone. I called to her and got no answer. I looked
in the roadside dust and the only footprints were mine and the
tracks of a deer that had passed.
In the next small town I stopped for gas. I mentioned to the
attendant what had happened. He told me that several years
previously a family of four or five people failed to make that
curve. They went over the cliff and were all killed. He said there
was a sixteen year old daughter killed in the
crash................... . . . . . . . . . . . .
(c) 2004 by Ken Snelson...
In each issue of our newsletter we
will add a question or theory that is being discussed in our Yahoo
group - Beyond The Veils . We invite you to join
so you can cast your vote and get in on the discussion!
CAN SPIRITS/GHOSTS SEE
US?
CLICK HERE TO VOTE & DISCUSS
Website : Oklahoma Paranormal Research
& Investigations –
http://www.okpri.com/
Event :
Falls ParaCon 2008 - Oct 25 -
Wichita Falls, TX –
http://www.FallsParanormal.com
Radio :
Para-X paranormal
radio show
Forum/Group : Archive X - Paranormal Forum
Book : The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and
Spirits by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Movie : The X-Files: I Want to Believe (July 2008- David
Duchovny, Gillian Anderson)
–
http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/X-Files-I-Want-to-Believe/1809953361
Software
: Video Caster video publishing software
http://www.deskshare.com/vc.aspx
Fun
: G.H.O.S.T. Hunters Real Arcade game
http://www.realarcade.com/game/ghosthunters
